''Sideridis rivularis'', the campion, is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. It is found in from the northern part of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, through the whole of Europe. To the east, it is found in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, up to

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

. To the south, it is found in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

region (with the exception of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

) and parts of

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. In the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, it is found at up to 1,600 metres above sea level.

Technical description and variation

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 27–30 mm. The length of the forewings is 14–16 mm. Forewing brownish fuscous with a violet sheen; the lines double; claviform stigma large, black; orbicular and reniform grey with yellowish or whitish outlines, conversely oblique and contiguous on median vein; veins dark outlined with grey; submarginal line yellowish or white, dentate; hindwing brownish fuscous, darker in female: the ab. ''behenis'' Frr. has the outer half of costa of forewing pale; — '' S. mandarina'' Leech (now considered to be a species) from Japan and China, is rather larger and darker, the markings in consequence somewhat less distinct.

Biology

The moth flies from April to September depending on the location. There are two generations per year. Larva greenish grey or yellowish, dotted with white: dorsal line dark with a row of oblique reddish grey stripes on each side. They feed on various low-growing plants, such as '' Silene'' species (primarily red campion (''

Silene dioica ''Silene dioica'' ( syn. ''Melandrium rubrum''), known as red campion and red catchfly, is a herbaceous flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe. It has ...

''), ''

Lychnis ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'' spp. and '. At first, they feed on the flowers and seed-capsules, eating the seeds, later they also feed on the leaves.

References

External links

Lepiforum
Taxonomy
Fauna EuropaeaVlindernet waarneming.nl Campion at UKmoths
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1570926 Hadenini Moths described in 1775 Moths of Asia Moths of Europe Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius